Almost forgotten in Sunday’s marathon win at Petco Park was, according to the pitcher, Andrew Cashner’s best outing of the season.

“That was the first time all season that I had my slider, which meant it was the first time all year I could call on all four of my pitches,” said Cashner who blanked his former teammates on two hits, a walk and a hit batter over seven innings.

His seven strikeouts also equaled his season high.

After throwing 25 pitches in a rough first – he gave up a single and a walk – Cashner needed just 83 pitches to get through the next six innings. He retired 11 in a row – six on strikeouts – starting with the final out in the first.

“I was maybe trying to do too much in the first,” said Cashner, who has struggled to harness his adrenaline in the past while facing the team that made him a first-round pick in 2008.

“After the first, I concentrated on throwing first-pitch strikes.”

Cashner has worked hard on developing his changeup this season. But his go-to slider hadn’t been the effective pitch it was.

“I had good fastball command plus the slider, changeup and sinker today,” said the 26-year-old.

Sunday marked the first time since his fourth start on May 6 against Miami that Cashner left the game without allowing a run. He became the first Padres pitcher since Mat Latos on Sept. 26, 2011, to pitch seven or more shutout innings allowing two hits or less with seven or more strikeouts.

He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last six starts at Petco Park.

Great spells of relief

The Padres bullpen allowed two runs on 15 hits and seven walks over 20 innings in the last three games against the Cubs.

Huston Street extended his scoreless innings streak to 17 straight Sunday. He has not allowed a run since June 23 while giving up six hits four walks against 18 strikeouts. His earned run average has plunged from 4.78 to 2.89 during the streak.

Another Padres reliever on a scoreless innings streak of note is right-hander Nick Vincent, whose ERA fell to 1.89 with a perfect inning Sunday. Vincent has made 13 straight scoreless appearances – five in tandem with Street – covering 13 1/3 innings since July 29. He has allowed four hit and as walk with 15 strikeouts during the streak.

Notable

--Will Venable hit safely for the 20th time in his last 21 games and finished the homestand with seven extra-base hits (two doubles, a triple and four homers). That’s the most extra-base hits by a Padre in a homestand since Nick Hundley had eight from Aug. 15-21, 2011. The team record is nine shared by Ed Spiezio (1969) and Dave Winfield (1978). Venable is hitting .368 (32-for-87) in August and .365 (46-for-126) since the All-Star break.

--A 50-year-old fan was taken by ambulance to the UC San Diego hospital in Hillcrest Sunday after being struck in the left side of his face by a foul ball in the second inning. The fan, who was sitting near the Padres dugout in the lower level along the first-base foul line, was described as being temporarily unconscious and having seizures by Fire Department personnel. He suffered a possible fractured cheekbone.

--Left-handed starter Cory Luebke is scheduled to throw bullpens in both Arizona and Los Angeles this week as he continues his rehab from his “Tommy John” elbow reconstruction surgery on May 23, 2012.